Columbia Station native Maya Johnson leaves transfer portal, stays with Belmont for final softball season

Appearances sometimes can be deceptive. Maya Johnson, one of the top pitchers in Division I, has withdrawn from the transfer portal and will remain at Belmont for her redshirt senior season. She had plenty of chances to continue her career elsewhere, saying that more than 120 schools reached out to her while in the portal. But her heart was always in Belmont. "It was really an academic reason to begin with," said Johnson, a former St. Joseph Academy standout who resides in Columbia Station. "It just happened to coincide with a very successful season. I had some great opportunities at some of these schools, but all I could think about was how I missed Belmont. I saw some really, really beautiful schools with great resources and all I could think about was Belmont. "We did a little bit of behind the scenes work and found out the academic option was still there. I think a lot of people thought, in the age of NIL, that I was in it solely for money because I came off a good season. That was never the reason I went into it. I went into it for academics and I never wanted to leave Belmont. So, when the opportunity presented itself for me to return, it was a no-brainer." Johnson, who finished her bachelor's degree in nursing this spring, was set to spend her fifth year at Belmont while pursuing her master's degree. However, she said that the nursing program had transitioned to a doctoral program and she was concerned with the time commitment that would require while also playing softball. She also had to determine if pursuing a doctorate was in her best interest. Fortunately for Johnson, and the softball team, starting in the fall the doctoral program also will transition to "a primarily online format with on-site immersions," according to a Belmont press release. The format alleviated the concerns Johnson had about balancing the program with her softball commitments. "I had to think about whether (the doctoral program) aligned with what I wanted to do," Johnson said. "The big thing was a lot of times in doctoral programs you have a lot of off-site clinicals to fill your requirements to be board eligible and that's a lot of time away from practice. But the first year in this program is predominately distance learning online, so I can do it and take my computer with me to away weekends and things like that. It's very doable now." Johnson is entering her fourth year with Belmont. She originally attended Pittsburgh in 2021-22 and it looked as if her career might never get started. She was diagnosed with lupus in high school and while with Pittsburgh struggled to gain the medical clearance needed to play. She transferred to Belmont and, with the help of its medical staff, has been able to rewrite the record books for the past three seasons. She's already the school's all-time strikeouts leader with 789, nearly 200 more than the previous record. "For me, it's the ideal situation to stay," Johnson said. "I had so much stress and weight lifted off my shoulders when it was a possibility. I didn't have to weigh any of these other factors — city, softball program, academics — all of these things that I'm looking at from these other schools. I know I'm happy at Belmont. Getting to finish my career with the team I made school history with, who are some of my best friends and who support me made all of that stress go out the window." With Johnson in the circle, the Bruins will likely again be contenders in the Missouri Valley Conference. Belmont finished as the No. 2 seed in the regular season and defeated No. 1 Southern Illinois in the championship to punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament. Johnson was named MVC Tournament MVP for her efforts. Belmont went 1-2 in the double-elimination regional, losing twice to Virginia Tech and defeating Jackson State 2-1 in their elimination game. "It was coolest to see coach (Laura) Matthews' goals for the program come to fruition this year," Johnson said. "She's spent a lot of time over the last five years to rebuild this program. Every year we've seen our program grow and get better. Winning the tournament was awesome. Getting to see that growth was really, really cool and to do it along my best friends was even better." She finished the year 24-6 with a 1.52 ERA and led all of Division I with 366 strikeouts, also a school single-season record. She also led the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (18.86) and shutouts (11) while ranking top 10 nationally in seven other categories. Johnson was named to three All-America teams, earning first-team honors by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association and second-team honors from Softball America and D1 Softball. She also was tabbed Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year, first team All-MVC, MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and National Fastpitch Coaches Association first team All-Region. "We learned a little bit about ourselves during the postseason run," Johnson said. "Now getting to that regional final or even a super regional is going to be the expectation from day one. I think sometimes being the first is the hardest. Having won a conference championship and going to a regional, we know what kind of work that takes to get there. I think the sky is the limit for us this season." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.